Fated Collaboration (Act II)

Morning came, you and Heizou soon arrived at the higher area of the island where you and Itto had been ambushed by the ronins and got separated. Unfortunately, the silver haired oni was no longer there and the two ronins who were left behind with him were gone as well. Not even a single blade nor any object in the area.

You began to worry for Itto, knowing fully well how often that guy gets into trouble. Your detective companion noticed your distressed expression and immediately inspected the area for even the tiniest bit of clues on their whereabouts.

"They definitely had been gone for a while now... within a day, at least. The traces have either faded off due to time or someone highly skilled was behind their disappearance that they wouldn't just carelessly leave any trace in the area.." He placed a hand on his chin while gathering his thoughts. "It's as similar to how the villagers went missing"

"You mean.. Itto is one of those victims now??" You start to panic more.

"Don't panic, I'm just comparing the similarities of the situation to the case. We can't immediately conclude just yet whether Itto's case is the same as the villagers or not since we don't have any evidence"

"So... What are we going to do now..? If there are no clues then there are no leads..."

"Don't tell me you're already giving up?" He raised an eyebrow as he placed both hands on his hips. "As a detective, you should have more faith in your skills and try to get a hold to even the tiniest bit of clue you could find. Man alive, I thought Sango had taught you well but it seems that I was mistaken"

"Thats.. a bit uncalled for... Sango is—"

"You don't have to keep defending her, it's the truth, and I've known her far longer than you have" He then decides to dismiss the topic immediately and continued investigating.

You glanced down to the ground, feeling conflicted whether you should let that remark pass or not. You had always looked up to your senior detective even though there are times when she's a bit unreasonable. Then repeating in your mind what Heizou just said, you slowly start to think that he's right. You may have worked under Sango's detective agency for more than half a year now but looking back to the times when you were just her assistant, she had only taught you a few things and you only had learned more from books and sometimes from Ryuuji. You could feel your pride as a detective slowly crumbling down along with your self-esteem.

"Hello? Earth to y/n?" Heizou slowly waved his hand right in front of your face as you were spacing out. You quickly snapped out of your thoughts and looked at him.

"S-sorry.. Did you say something..?"

He just sighed and held your wrist. "Cmon, there's a place I'd like to check out" He then starts leading the way while holding your wrist.

"E-eh??" You were lost in confusion that you looked at his hand while having yourself being dragged along. "Where are we going??"

The detective didn't give you an answer as he kept on leading the way without letting you go.

***

Heizou finally stopped walking after a short while, you crouched down to catch your breath as he slowly let go of your wrist. "Alright, we're here"

You slightly looked up and noticed that there's an island up ahead and from the looks of it, it's like there's an ancient ruin on it.

"Suigetsu Pool.. There weren't any information about anyone being seen there but don't you think it is worth investigating?" He then turned to look at you.

"I guess..?" You looked back at him, although you're not sure what your companion is up to.

"Then let us make haste!" He grabbed your wrist again and starts running off, dragging you along to run across the shallow water as you both headed for the small island.

When you both finally arrived, you took the moment to scan the area before trying to start inspecting, in case that something or someone suddenly pops out of nowhere.

"I never knew Watatsumi Island had a ruin by the northeastern side.." You muttered.

"I managed to catch a glimpse of it while wandering the higher landforms of the island. According to the stories I've heard, the Suigetsu Pool has a mansion beneath the surface that was once owned by a famous historical figure of Inazuma that goes by the name of Umigozen" He proceeded to explain as he walked alongside you. "Other than that little detail, there are still yet a lot of things that people haven't known or discovered about this ruin. I thought it would be a great opportunity for the both of us to reach the truth first, no?"

"But.. What about the case..?"

"Good question, but we'll figure things out along the way" He then starts walking ahead of you. You quickly hurried to catch up to the detective's pace, but then something had caught your eye and made you pause from your tracks.

Something was sticking out from the sand and you decided to check it out. As you managed to get a closer look, it seemed like a mechanical part.

You carefully and slowly dusted off the sand from the said object and noticed that there seems to be more of it being buried deep so you resorted to digging the sand off of it. By the time you finished digging, you took a step back to get a good look at the whole thing and your eyes widened in realization on what you had just dug out.

It was an inactive ruin hunter with a couple of damaged parts. You took another step back carefully, trying to be cautious in case it suddenly becomes active.

As you slowly took a couple steps backwards, you accidentally bumped into something solid. You hesitantly turned your head around and found yourself face-to-face with an activated ruin cruiser.

[Heizou's POV]

Perhaps I was a bit too harsh on y/n, she's just a rookie after all. My intuition tells me that she has the potential, but I guess I went overboard on criticizing her. I should properly apologize.

"Hey, y/n—" I slowly turned around to look at her but to my surprise, she wasn't there.

"y/n?" I looked around in both sides, there were no signs of her. Oh dear, where could she have gone? Don't tell me she went somewhere else without saying anything?

I quickly retraced my steps to find where I could have possibly separated from her. I do hope she didn't run into trouble, this place is crawling with ruin sentinels after all.

Before I could continue further, something popped out from the ground and knocked me back.

"Hey!" I groaned and quickly got up, looking at the electro whopperflower that got in my way then I took out my catalyst. "You don't want to do this"

I clenched my fist as I slowly crouched down, stacking anemo energy onto my hand while waiting for the right moment.

When the whopperflower started taking action and popped up right in front of me, I released the anemo energy from my fist as soon as I immediately threw a hard punch at it, sending it flying towards the sea.

"That takes care of it" I casted aside my catalyst and turned to find where I had left off.

At the same time, I heard a loud blast that didn't sound too far from where I'm standing. I then immediately rushed off towards the source of the noise.

"y/n!!"